American venture capitalist Peter Thiel called Bitcoin a «Chinese financial weapon» during a virtual event that included senior members of the former Trump administration.
The co-founder and ex-CEO of Paypal called for tighter regulations on cryptocurrencies in the U.S., highlighting risks to the greenback.
«It threatens fiat money, but it especially threatens the U.S. dollar,» according to a «Bloomberg» report citing Thiel at the event for members of the Richard Nixon Foundation.
Others attending the event include former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien.
China Threat
«I do wonder whether at this point, Bitcoin should also be thought [of] in part as a Chinese financial weapon against the U.S.,» Thiel added, highlighting crypto risks in U.S.-China relations.
«[If] China’s long Bitcoin, perhaps from a geopolitical perspective, the U.S. should be asking some tougher questions about exactly how that works.»
Separately, the director of the People’s Bank of China’s digital currency research institute Mu Changchun previously said the planned digital yuan’s function includes safeguarding monetary sovereignty, specifically highlighting risk from Bitcoin’s rise.
